“Do it for me, Mr. Wayne. Your daughter will rip me a new one if she gets here and her daddy isn’t being tutted over like a newborn baby.”

“Fine.” Grumbling, he plops down into the chair and even props his feet up out of the snow, onto the log Dane drags over. “Don’t know what the hell happened to respecting your elders.”

“That flew right out the window when you turned into the most ornery, stubborn patient known to man.” His son gives him a stern look. “Cause any more trouble and you’ll be watching from the windows.” With that, he takes off to resume erecting his wall across the yard.

“Ever since that boy took over my spot at Deluca & Livingston, he’s been acting a little too big for his britches.”

“He’s a chip off the old block.” I give my father-in-law a sideways glance while starting on another brick. Frank better hurry with those supplies. It’s so fucking cold, I can hardly feel my fingers anymore. Gardening gloves don’t offer much protection against the blistering cold, but unfortunately that’s all we could find.

Mr. Wayne’s answering smirk snuffs out his natural inclination to argue because he knows I’m right. Dane is the spitting image of his father at our age, in looks as well as mannerisms. They’re both incredibly strong in stature and gumption. It’s their unwillingness to yield that makes them a force to be reckoned with in the courtroom.

“Where you want this stuff, boss?” As if I conjured him, my right-hand man comes around from the front, arms loaded with gear.

“Sleds near the hill. Just drop the other stuff right there on the patio.”

He gives me a salute. “You got it.”

“Thanks, man. You’re the best!”

“They just turned into the subdivision.” Wayne’s still texting with his wife when he makes the announcement.

“Let’s get you on the patio where you’ll have a good view of the kids’ faces.” I make it about the kids to pacify my father-in-law, who positively adores my niece and nephew. But I really just want to get him out of the snow.

No more than a few seconds after we have him situated, the kids come blazing into the back.

“What the?” Annabelle freezes just outside the blanket of snow. “It snowed here?”

“I telled you it was gonna snow at Christmas.” Carter pokes his tongue out at his big sister. “I asked Santa when I sitted in his lap.”

“Merry Christmas!” I shout when Sammi and her mother, and my mom, and sister, and grandmother come traipsing into the yard, mouths agape.

“Can we go play, Uncle Lyle?”

“Sure, you can, buddy.” I scoop Carter up into my arms. “After you change into your snow boots and gloves.”

His lower lip pokes out. “But I don’t have any.”